Bergin Wins In Waterbury

C Five months after being acquitted of municipal corruption charges, former five-term Mayor Edward D. Bergin Jr. revived his political career Wednesday, defeating the party-endorsed Democratic candidate by 88 votes.

"He says I won," the astonished candidate said after being told by Democratic Registrar of Voters John Rock that he had not only won, but had won by a large enough margin to avoid an automatic recount. Applause erupted in his campaign headquarters.

Rock's 11:30 p.m. call came moments after Bergin, who was trailing, had demanded a recount and called for voting machines to be impounded.

The official tally showed Bergin winning with 7,189 votes to 7,101 for Alderman Gary Reardon.

The machine tally had given Reardon a 166-vote edge, but absentee ballots put Bergin over the top.

Bergin, the son of former three-term mayor Edward D. Bergin, told his supporters that no matter what the margin, he is still the winner.

"My father always said it was an overwhelming mandate as long as you win by one vote." In November, Bergin will face Mayor Joseph J. Santopietro, who is running under the cloud of a federal investigation of municipal corruption. Josephine I. Mills, Santopietro's former budget director, also is running, as an independent.

Reardon did not concede defeat early today, but said he would not seek a recount if one was not required by law. Reardon said he would support the Democratic ticket in November.

"I knew it was going to be a close election," Reardon said. "It's behind me. I never look back on anything. The voters have spoken." In Bridgeport, lawyer Joseph P. Ganim won the Democratic mayoral primary and will face Mayor Mary C. Moran in a race that could be a referendum on Moran's decision to seek municipal bankruptcy.

Ganim, the endorsed candidate, won an easy victory over Antonio

Diaz, beating the challenger nearly 3-1. Ganim said he plans an aggressive campaign aimed at what he said was Moran's lack of leadership, inability to deal with the city's financial troubles and inability to control crime.

Long after that and other state races were decided, Democrats in Waterbury were still milling about in crowded campaign offices, riding emotional waves as unofficial numbers showed first one candidate in the lead, and then the other.

With his wife, youngest son and brother at his side, his fingers carrying a cigarette and shaking slightly, Bergin spent Wednesday night looking out at his smoke-filled headquarters.

He sat quietly, scratching numbers on a pad, shaking his head in wonder.

"It is a horse race," he said, looking up from a table filled with numbers.

The win for Bergin marks a dramatic comeback. Bergin stood trial on charges of accepting bribes while in office, but re-entered politics after his acquittal in April. Bergin's running mates also fared well in narrow races, winning three seats on the board of education and six of nine aldermanic seats. Rock said recounts would be held for those races.

During the campaign, Bergin had said Reardon was a puppet of party boss Thomas F. Gahan, the town committee chairman who pleaded guilty in 1988 to campaign misconduct after being charged with bribery involving city towing contractors.

Reardon had called Bergin an old-school politician who favored patronage and back-room decision-making.

Several other area towns held primaries for top elected offices.

In Clinton, board of finance Chairman Hugh Adams upset incumbent First Selectwoman Virginia Zawoy in the Republican primary for the town's top spot. Adams won the primary 556-445 and will face Democratic town committee Chairman Paul Austin.

In East Windsor, Democratic First Selectman Walter Gudzunas, who lost the party endorsement at a spirited caucus in July, won the Democratic primary Wednesday, defeating former Selectman John E. Rajala, 496-384.

In Berlin, Thomas J. Veronesi, a local elementary school teacher, defeated one police officer in the Democratic primary for mayor and will face another in the November general election. In Wednesday's primary, Veronesi easily defeated Richard A. Rampone, a veteran police officer, 1,197 to 498. In November, Veronesi will face Republican Mayor Robert J. Peters, a police sergeant who is on leave.